Safety

US aviation safety teams to probe May Transmile Boeing 727 freighter fuel tank explosion in India

^{By Leithen Francis in Singapore}

A fuel tank explosion on a Boeing 727 freighter in India earlier this month has caught the attention of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which has sent a team to India to investigate.

NTSB says in a statement that it has sent a team to India for the investigation of “a reported left wing fuel tank explosion on a Transmile Airlines 727-200”.

“The incident involving a Malaysia-registered aircraft occurred on 4 May” at India’s Bangalore Airport “during a ground repositioning”, it adds. “No injuries were reported” and “there were no passengers on board”.

Lorenda Ward is heading the NTSB team which includes safety board specialists and representatives from Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration.

“The tragic TWA [Trans World Airlines] 800 accident in 1996 highlighted the vulnerability of transport aircraft fuel tanks,” NTSB acting chairman Mark Rosenker says in the statement.

“A decade later the issue remains a major concern of the safety board and is on our ‘most wanted’ list of safety improvement. “I am hopeful what is learned from this investigation may provide added impetus for a resolution of this problem without further delay,” he adds.

Transmile Air Services is a cargo airline based in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

It operates several aircraft types including around 10 727Fs and some of the 727Fs are used for cargo services between Bangalore and Hong Kong on behalf of express freight company DHL.

Transmile Group chief executive Gan Boon Aun was unavailable for comment yesterday as was executive director Khiudin Mohd.